(201) Magazine Blogs

Saturday, December 31, 2011

No real surprise here but Sean Avery has cleared waivers and been assigned by the Rangers to Connecticut (AHL) for the second time this season.

The indications were that Avery would report.

Though Avery has cleared made some enemies throughout the NHL, there are teams - the Islanders - could use him if for no other reason than to sell tickets and poke at the Rangers. But now, barring something unforeseen the rest of the season, Avery will likely be buried in the minors for the rest of 2011-12. And he may have a hard time finding a team willing to offer him a contract next season.

Both the Rangers Michael Del Zotto and the Panthers Tomas Kopecky have been fined the maximum $2,500 for their actions in the waning seconds of the Rangers’ 4-1 win Friday night.

Del Zotto was called for high-sticking Kopecky after he whacked him in front of the Rangers’ crease. Kopecky then turned and sucker-punched Del Zotto, or, in the words of the NHL, punching an unsuspecting opponent. Kopecky received a match penalty for that.

The fine money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

Because I still haven’t seen a replay of the exchange, I can’t really offer any more insight. On the surface, though, it seems odd that Del Zotto and Kopecky are fined the same amount, even though Del Zotto received a two-minute minor and Kopecky was issued a match penalty.
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About to head to Citizens Bank Park and fight the traffic to get in (parade a little further down Broad Street). As for last night’s Rangers’ win, it was not on in the hotel and I couldn’t get the game on radio so what I know is what I’ve read.

A few quick impressions: The win was important because, as I wrote about in yesterday’s Record, the Rangers continue to be very good and not losing back-to-back regulation games. The Rangers jumped back over the Bruins and again are atop the Eastern Conference. And the Rangers again showed that, when they’re on their game, they can easily handle a team that is quicker than them. Most importantly, though, Brad Richards notched the game-winning goal, added an assist and was a plus-three after going a minus-three at Washington. That snapped a five-game goal-less streak for Richards and a 10-game streak without an assist, which matched his career high. Also, Brandon Dubinsky scored his third goal in five games and if Dubinsky’s game is returning to form it’s like the Rangers have traded for another scorer without giving up anything.

The Panthers matched a season best by limiting the Rangers to just two shots in the final period, last doing so in the third period Dec. 18 vs. Carolina. Carl Hagelin’s goal 35 seconds into the opening period was the fastest goal for a Panthers opponent all season. And the Panthers’ Tomas Kopecky can expect a call from Brendan Shanahan after earning a match penalty for sucker-punching Michael Del Zotto at the buzzer after Del Zotto cross-checked him. Del Zotto was said to be OK in the dressing room after the game.

The Rangers are off today as they fly to Philadelphia and will next practice tomorrow outdoors at 2:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, from today’s Record, here’s what ex-Ranger Eric Lindros, along with Rangers alumni Darren Turcotte and Paul Broten, had to say about concussions and how the NHL is handling the situation and how the league handled the situation when they played. That’s a vast difference. Also, Record teammate Tom Gulitti gives his opinion on the concussions plaguing the NHL.
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Normally, bright sunshine and mild temperatures aren’t worrisome. But, when it comes to staging an outdoor hockey game, that is considered bad weather.

So, concerned about weather forecast in the 50s and bright skies tomorrow, the NHL has decided to move back the opening faceoff of tomorrow’s Rangers-Flyers alumni game two hours to 3 p.m.

Basically, what the league learned today was the ice was too soft around noontime. There was a media skate scheduled today at noon that was ultimately pushed back to 2:30 for the same reasons. Later in the day, the sun is not bearing down on the ice so directly and the ice can be better maintained.
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Friday, December 30, 2011

Here at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, the Rangers’ alumni media access has just concluded and we’re waiting to take the field to talk to the Flyers media. Hoping Eric Lindros will be included.

Pat Hickey, Paul Broten, Darren Turcotte and John Vanbiesbrouck came into the media room. I was able to talk to linemates Broten and Turcotte and the most interesting was their take of concussions, then vs. now. Essentially then was shake it off and get back out there and now is what you have with Sidney Crosby, Marc Staal, etc. I’ll write a full article for tomorrow’s Record that I’ll link to.

At one point, Turcotte was asked what Mike Keenan would be like behind the Rangers’ bench tomorrow and he said he’d let Broten handle that. Broten joked that if Keenan said anything to him now, he’d give it right back to Iron Mike, now that he’s not a paid employee.

Broten said he thinks these outdoor Winter Classics are really good for the promotion of the NHL and he hopes there will be one in his native Minnesota soon. By the way, I asked Broten fellow Minnesotan Mike Sauer’s enthusiasm for ice fishing and sitting in a tree shooting at deer and Broten just laughed and said it’s like people from New York or Philadelphia sitting in traffic. Essentially, it’s what they do. “It’s not so much fun…but it gets us out of the house.”

Turcotte told an interesting story about Keenan’s motivational style while Rangers coach. Turcotte said the Rangers had won their first four games, then lost to a bad Anaheim Ducks team. The next practice was a 45-minute bag skate. Then Keenan kicked the players off the ice. But then…the Rangers were apparently due what Turcotte called “five-game segment bonus checks.” Turcotte said Keenan then had each player walk over and meet with him one-on-one, one at a time. Keenan shook each player’s hand and thanked them for their hard work, performance, etc.

The Rangers placed agitator Sean Avery on waivers for a second time this season with the likelihood the 31-year-old left wing, in the final season of a four-year, $15.5 million deal that’s being split evenly with the Stars, will again wind up with Connecticut (AHL).

Avery has been a healthy scratch the past nine games, not playing since a 4-1 win at Buffalo on Dec. 10. Before that game, coach John Tortorella was angered when he found Avery’s mother and a family friend in the team’s dressing room.

Avery has three goals in 15 games for the Rangers after initially being placed on waivers at the end of the preseason on Oct. 4. Due to Avery’s salary and, most likely, his reputation around the NHL, he cleared both that time and when he passed through re-entry waivers and rejoined the Rangers on Nov. 1.

It’s not expected any other NHL team will claim Avery this time, either and Avery is expected to report to the Whale and not forfeit his salary.

The league-worst Blue Jackets have the first shot at claiming him. The Islanders would have the third shot.

But Avery told The Record on Oct. 21 while with the Whale that he really only wanted to play for the Rangers and couldn’t envision playing for either the Islanders or Devils. Avery said the money owed to him was one factor in why he didn’t think he would be claimed by another team.

“That and the fact that I don’t want to play for any other teams and most teams don’t want me,” Avery said that day.

“The problem with me is that I have no boundaries when I play for a team,” Avery added then. “I’ll do and I’ve done bad things and that’s what I do when I play for a team that I love playing for.”

When the Rangers waived Avery the first time, Tortorella told the media, “I think we have better players than Sean Avery, plain and simple.”

Still, placing Avery on waivers is no surprise. He counts more against the salary cap than Erik Christensen ($925,000), the other logical candidate to be removed from the roster with left wing Wojtek Wolski (sports hernia) ready to rejoin the lineup.
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The Rangers are in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. right now and will face the Panthers tonight. I am about to leave my house and head to Philadelphia to start our Winter Classic coverage (alumni media access today). Putting two and two together, I will not be covering tonight’s game and will catch up with the Blueshirt boys again when they get to the City of Brotherly Love.

That doesn’t mean I’m ignoring the team until then. Here’s today’s look at how the Rangers want to approach tonight’s game. Also, in case you were not up at 2 a.m., here are my thoughts on the third episode of HBO’s “24/7” (I liked it a lot).

Rangers at Panthers
Tonight, 7:30 p.m.
TV: MSG
Radio: ESPN-AM 1050
Storyline: The Atlantic Division-leading Rangers (22-9-4) have split two games with the Southeast Division-leading Panthers (19-11-7), losing 2-1 at Florida on Nov. 23. The Rangers’ power play was 0 for 5 in Wednesday’s 4-1 loss to the Capitals and is in a 1-for-16 skid. The Panthers snapped a three-game losing streak in Tuesday’s 5-3 win over the Maple Leafs.
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Finally settled into the family room at Chez Gross and, thanks to the digital magic that is the DVR, I was able to catch up with the full third episode of HBO’s “24/7.” So, sorry for being a day late to the party but here are some of my thoughts on the third episode.

Unlike last week’s episode 2, which, honestly, I found rather plodding and underwhelming, I was very into this week’s installment. The game and in-between period footage was not only spectacular, but incisive. The scene at Brian Boyle’s family Christmas, with him introducing his 12 siblings, and, hilariously, forgetting their birth order at one point, was as good as I could have hoped.

Boyle, of course, had already stolen the episode by wearing that elf costume.

To me, though, the money shot was the interaction between Rangers captain Ryan Callahan and coach John Tortorella in between periods, where they’re looking at the rink diagram, discussing a play and how to deploy the troops and Callahan makes a point that Tortorella promises to immediately check out on video. Without sounding pompous, a lot of “24/7” is not a surprise to me or to the other writers who cover these teams because we’re privileged enough to be sort of on the inside. But getting to see first-hand how Coach and captain work hand-in-hand was something the media is not privy to and, honestly, helps my understanding of how the team I cover functions.

There were also several laugh-out-loud moments. The best was when Jaromir Jagr, in the Flyers’ pre-game dressing room at Madison Square Garden, tells Claude Giroux, “It’s tough to score four points here,” then, with perfect comedic timing, tells his younger teammate, “I did it.”
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Thursday, December 29, 2011

The Rangers stay atop the Eastern Conference, at least for this go-round, was a short one as the Bruins regained a one-point edge over the Rangers with a 2-1 overtime win at Phoenix.

Here’s the game story on the loss from The Record and northjersey.com/sports. When you read the story, please note that the Capitals’ second goal, originally credited to Jeff Halpern, has been changed to Troy Brouwer, who was in front of Marty Biron, screening the goalie.

“After the Buffalo game and the way we’ve been playing. I think when you’re then playing a team that’s tops in your conference you want to make sure you’re getting off to a good start,” Halpern said. “And we wanted to be able to dictate a little bit of the game as opposed to being on our heels like we have been . The Rangers did a good job getting a forecheck going and getting their cycling going. We did a good enough job holding them off and Tomas came up big for us with some saves.”

Also to be noted on this night of depressing Rangers’ news is that Steven Stamkos tied Marian Gaborik for the NHL goal lead with 22 on Tuesday.

Did manage to make it back to my hotel room to see the final 10 minutes of the third episode of HBO’s “24/7.” So I saw Ilya Bryzgalov cooking duck and the scene I really wanted to see, the Brian Boyle crazy Christmas. Looking forward to seeing the first 50 minutes when I get home tomorrow.

As for tonight’s game, obviously, the Rangers’ turnover problem was the root cause of tonight’s defeat. And Brad Richards was one of the prime offenders after coughing up the puck on Alex Semin’s second goal. But Richards’ offensive production overall is in a serious slump. He has not notched a point since his backhander beat the buzzer by 0.1 seconds in a 3-2 win at Phoenix six games ago. He has also gone 10 games without an assist which appears to match a career-worst slump for him.

It’s tough to pick on just one player but obviously Richards is being paid a lot of money to be more of a contributor. That said, he did tie Gaborik, Ryan Callahan and Ryan McDonagh for the team lead with four shots apiece.
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Coach John Tortorella had a brief post-game media session but really didn’t need to say more than he did after the Rangers’ 4-1 loss to the Capitals.

“I wouldn’t say it’s the defense, I would say it’s some brain-dead plays at our blue line as far as turnovers,” Tortorella said. “It’s unfortunate with Del Z (Michael Del Zotto), he loses the puck on the first one. But a turnover by Mitch (John Mitchell) and a turnover by Richie (Brad Richards), not against their third- or fourth-line, but against their top line. It kills us. That’s what’s frustrating. I thought we beat ourselves a little bit there in those situations. They’re an opportunistic team. They don’t want to defend. They want nothing to do with it. So what do we do? We don’t allow them to defend on those plays and they go score goals and then they get rolling, that’s where they gained momentum. So that’s what’s frustrating.”

Tortorella also confirmed what he said this morning, that, with Stu Bickel (right eye) and Jeff Woywitka (left foot) coming through the game healthy, rookie Tim Erixon will be sent back to Connecticut (AHL) and not accompany the team to Florida tomorrow.
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About

ANDREW GROSS covers the New York Rangers for The Record and Herald News, having joined the North Jersey Media Group in November 2007. Gross also covered the Rangers and New York Jets, as well as St. John’s basketball and Army football, for Gannett Newspapers and The Journal News (N.Y.). He graduated from Syracuse University in 1989 with a degree in newspaper journalism.